Flaming Vehicle Shuts Down Traffic on Saw Mill, Parkway Foamed

A flaming car caused bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Saw Mill River Parkway for more than an hour Tuesday.

Westchester County Police said the operator of the 2010 Mini Cooper was having mechanical problems and pulled over in the right northbound lane in Irvington, just south of the I-87 overpass. The car began to smoke and then caught fire, eventually engulfing the entire vehicle.

In addition to Westchester County Police, both Irvington and Elmsford fire departments were on the scene. 

The blaze was exacerbated by a leaky gas tank, which caused emergency responders to have to use foam on the parkway to put out the flames, which were difficult to extinguish.

The incident caused standstill traffic on both northbound and southbound lanes of the parkway. Northbound traffic was shut down at 1:30 p.m. causing some drivers and their passengers to hang out outside of their cars. The southbound lanes had some movement just before the northbound lane was opened up again at 2:42 p.m. 

Police said that there was also a car accident on the south end of the parkway, which may have been caused by the traffic jam.

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